I was recently reminded that when Victor Hugo published The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1831, the Cathedral had fallen into dismal disrepair. His best-selling novel served to awaken readers around the world, along with Parisians, to the beauty and majesty of this neglected edifice, and they did something about it. It wasn’t countless letters or showing up to speak to the French version of the local City Council (although Mr. Hugo did just that, to no avail). It was his novel that finally stirred them from their apathy.
The country of France probably leads Western Europe in secular persuasion these days, however that didn’t stop them from making sure that Notre Dame was painstakingly and lovingly restored after that disastrous fire a few years ago. They recognize and continue to protect their beautiful, unique Cathedral that forms the heart of Paris.
A few summers ago, my granddaughter from Baltimore was dancing with the State Street Ballet summer program for children. She did this for a few summers spent with “Grandma”....I overheard her talking on the phone to her father in Baltimore, “Dad, we’re performing on the stage of the world famous Lobero Theatre!” Even a ten year old got it. Let’s look at the three “world famous” theatres in Santa Barbara.
Santa Barbara’s Three Beautiful Theatres
The Arlington Theatre with its spire gracing the evening sky that provides the anchor for the Santa Barbara Film Festival and was once slated for demolition to extend the parking lot of the Safeway which stood at the corner of Chapala and Victoria for many years.
The Lobero Theatre, built in 1873, is the oldest theatre in continuous operation in California, and the 4th oldest performing arts theatre in the U.S. Architect, George Washington Smith. Need I say more?
Next ,we have the Granada Theatre, built in 1924, and rescued from a multi-plex nightmare and restored to exceed its former glory in a five-year effort beginning in 2003. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the late Hal Conklin who made strategic contributions in that effort, and to the group of determined residents whose efforts raised the millions that restoration required.
Now the sweeping interiors host the productions of eight resident companies, including the Music Academy of the West, Opera Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Symphony, State Street Ballet, and the UCSB Arts & Lecture series. Attending an event at any of these three “world famous” venues is easy and safe. Parking lots conveniently located just steps away. Restaurants and bars accommodate dinner & drinks to please all tastes.
It’s Time to Save State Street Too
Maybe as a community we do take the unique beauty and rich architecture of Santa Barbara for granted. Many have no idea what it took to not only make it the gorgeous town that it is, but how hard it is to keep it that way. During those years from 1916 when the Spanish Colonial look began to take hold here, through the refinement and revival of that influence during the 1920s of Pearl Chase and others, the city attracted other architects along with George Washington Smith, including Lutah Maria Riggs, Julia Morgan, William Edwards, and Winsor Soule.
Their vision and resulting projects provide the foundation for the beauty and notoriety of Santa Barbara worldwide. Their buildings around town are well chronicled by the likes of Neal Graffy, our local historian. They include distinct commercial buildings on State Street, large homes and estates on the Riviera, and housing and hotels in the West Beach neighborhood along the waterfront.
How do we expect this town uniquely situated between the mountains and the sea, to continue to be the beautiful place to live and to visit, when our downtown corridor, the once sparkling and beautiful thoroughfare called State Street, stretching from midtown to Stearns Wharf, is now a speedway for electric bikes and skateboards?
Theatres represent just one part of the Santa Barbara picture. But theatres, bars, restaurants, and myriad businesses of all kinds, cannot thrive in a downtown that looks the way ours does now.
It’s a disgrace.
It’s part of a plan to which people are mostly ignorant; but most importantly, is not inevitable. Santa Barbara belongs to its residents. Not to a handful of officials – elected and un-elected – whose vision has worked counter to the beauty and thriving nature of Downtown Santa Barbara for far too long.
We are a town full of smart, high functioning people.
We can save Santa Barbara.
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As I read this article, it reminds me of many conversations my wife and I have had on this subject. Although we now live in Santa Ynez, we have always enjoyed the beauty and history of Santa Barbara. Many times saying "I wonder what it was like 50 years ago". Over the past twenty years we have seen a steady decline in the cleanliness, too many homeless, a resurrection of the funk zone, and now the closure and cultural change of State Street. We no longer come to State Street. If we come down, it is only to the Funk Zone. We wish policies would change to re-open State Street, push for a clean up and more business friendly environment. We sincerely hope it can. We will then with pleasure tell our friends to come visit again, and we can get back to the theaters and activities with relish.
I like this write up. Has me a little sad though. At its heart it's actually glorifying the builders, the architects, the creatives. We don't have that anymore. Take a step back and looking at our society as a whole, we're just maintainers. Restorators. We don't build. We don't create. We don't inspire awe with new and fresh ideas. We recycle. We lean into nostalgia. We think the best times are behind us. That's depressing.